


The Mastery of Ian Prentice

by merry_amelie



Series: Academic Arcadia [275]
Category: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Genre: Alternate Reality, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 15:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14335011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merry_amelie/pseuds/merry_amelie
Summary: A documentary on Ian's gymnastics career premieres at Luke.





	The Mastery of Ian Prentice

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback: Is treasured at merryamelie@aol.com (or leave a comment).
> 
> Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns everything Star Wars. I'm not making any money.
> 
> For  
> My beta team: Emila-Wan and Carol  
> Mali Wane and Laura McEwan for posting to the Master Apprentice ML  
> Travis for posting to the Master Apprentice Archive on AO3   
> Alex for inspiring Arcadia 
> 
> References:  
> [A Chance Meeting](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13652091)  
> [Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figrin_D%27an_and_the_Modal_Nodes)

Dear Professor Prentice,

I'm a freshman at Darthmouth College, and it's been a tough year for me. Even here in New Hampshire, it's not easy to fit in.

When I saw your documentary, it inspired me and gave me hope for a brighter future. I can't thank you enough.

Yours sincerely,  
Joe Cameron

P.S. I'm still rooting for the Maulers over the Skyhawks in our baseball games this spring, though.

Ian had received many letters like this one, since last week's broadcast of the film devoted to his career at Luke University. Each letter made him want to cheer and cry at the same time, and he'd made a point of answering every one, even though he still had innumerable papers on 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage' by Lord Byron to grade by Monday.

And now the movie was coming even closer to home.

Anticipation charged the air as happy chatter filled the Luke Playhouse on Saturday, April 14th at 6 p.m. Luke-Loves, the campus LGBT group, was ready to present the documentary about one of their own called 'The Mastery of Ian Prentice'. It had been written and produced by Kit Stern, the lead announcer at ESPA, the nationwide sports channel.

Ian, of course, was the center of attention, as he and Quinn sat in the front row of the theater. Their parents were beside them on their left, while Monty's little family was to their right. Monty had insisted on coming, in spite of his heavy workload; after all, he was a C.P.A., who had only three days until the April 17th deadline for this year's taxes.

Their friends Evan, Case and Billie, Ethan and Bant were seated behind them, while Theresa and Alison & Marty and Tim sat in the third row. Coach Otto Rance was there with his family, who were all friends of Ian's. The Skyhawks were out in Force, proudly wearing their Luke uniforms, instead of the formal wear around them.

Their neighbors had come, as well. Mr. Jefferson sat with Violet and Prudence, and the Changs had brought a delighted Han with them. Even Master Yodama and his students had skipped tonight's class in order to be there. Everyone wanted to know what the filming had been like, except for Case, Otto, and the gymnastics team, who had actually been interviewed for the movie. 

The sea of family, friends, and neighbors reminded the professors of their wedding ceremonies, especially the second one at Luke Chapel in 2011. Quinn couldn't resist putting his arm over his herven's shoulders and giving him a squeeze as they waited for the film to start. He didn't have to slouch down in his chair too much tonight, since Case was nearly as tall as Quinn himself.

There would be a reception and fund-raising dinner afterwards at the Luke Convention Center, with both the English and Athletics Departments already donating $1,000 apiece to Lambda Legal, the LGBT civil-rights organization. The tickets to the banquet cost $50 apiece, and with an attendance of over 100 people, the university would make a substantial contribution to the cause of equal-rights litigation.

Quinn himself was making a donation of $100, in addition to his and Ian's tickets, money that he felt could not have been better spent. He was at full beam at the moment; no one could be prouder than he was of his laddie. He'd always known that Ian was a natural performer. It showed in his lectures, his poetry readings, and his post-meet interviews. 

In fact, Ian's natural charisma was what had led Kit Stern to ask him to star in the documentary to begin with. And he, as well as everyone who saw it, had not been disappointed.

The movie started with Ian's gymnastics exploits in high school and college, using footage provided by Jo and Keith; Padua High School and Jedai, Bail, and Georgeton Universities; as well as the ESPA archives. Kit paid particular attention -- showing Ian's entire performance -- to Ian's NCAA gold medal in high bar, which he'd earned as a senior at Jedai U. Ian even opened up about his decision not to put his parents through the ordeal of him trying to make an Olympic team, because of the twin strains of finances and family separation.

Then the focus shifted to his coaching career at Luke, starting in 2004, when he had joined Quinn as an English professor there. Ian hadn't seen Kit's interviews with Coach Rance and the team, both past and present, so he was deeply moved by the warm praise he heard in every voice.

Quinn had made an appearance in the film, in exactly the same way a husband ordinarily would in a biography, speaking about their lives as professors at Luke, as well as his role as a booster of the Skyhawks. His smile turned self-deprecatory when he overheard a couple of comments from a few rows back about how handsome Ian and he looked onscreen, thanks to his enhanced Jedi hearing.

When the movie was over, the audience rose in a rousing standing ovation. Ian was overwhelmed, and Quinn right along with him. The love surrounding them was palpable, and they bowed deeply -- with impeccable Jedi form -- to their family and friends. Cheers all around swept them out of the playhouse and into the student union.

Most of the crowd decided to walk to the convention center, since it was only 10 minutes away by foot. Quinn and Ian strolled along with their little group, glad that they had worn their corduroy jackets -- dark chocolate for Quinn, with a button-down white shirt and forest-green tie over tan slacks; milk chocolate for Ian, with a button-down white shirt and cobalt-blue tie over cream slacks -- since the temperature was a balmy 54 degrees. Just a typical spring evening in Upstate New York.

When they arrived at the LCC, they were directed to the banquet room on the 4th floor. Vases of daffodils, bluebells, and lilacs adorned each round table, and the room was decorated in soft pastels of blue and green. A soothing spring palette for the guests to savor.

The Mossley seven-piece band played cool jazz in a soulful riff across the dance floor from them; Quinn recognized the musicians from their gig at Chillmoon's Jazz Club, when he and Ian had eaten there last month. He exchanged a wave with the bandleader, Dan Figrino -- a balding, middle-aged gentleman -- as he walked to his seat.

Ian and Quinn shared a table with their parents and Monty's family, just as they had at their wedding reception at the Sunset Tower. The couples sat together, with the Mastersons to the professors' left and the Prentices to their right. Lelia and the ladies were lovely in their spring party dresses, while the men looked dashing in shirts and ties over crisp slacks.

Lelia was stunning in her white long-sleeved dress, and her hair swept back in a bun made her look so grown up, it almost brought tears to everyone's eyes. They all remembered how adorable she'd looked in 2011, when she'd been her uncles' flower girl, just as she had in Windover -- it was hard to believe so much time had passed and that she was almost fourteen years old already. Lelia was literally twice the age she'd been back then. Kathy took pictures of the whole table, but she made particularly sure to showcase Lelia and her uncles.

A bottle of Cristal sat in a champagne bucket in front of Ian. He read the note aloud:

"To our Ian! Let the celebration begin!"

It was signed by his whole family, with Lelia writing her name in green calligraphy.

A charmingly self-deprecatory Ian thanked everyone around him. They cheered, as Quinn opened the champagne, and Ian poured it for all of them, except Lelia, who had a glass of pineapple juice instead.

Quinn stood up to make the toast:

"To my amazing laddie, whose mastery was on full display today, as it is every day at Luke!"

He clinked glasses with Ian, and they all took the first sip.

They didn't have to bother with menus; Luke-Loves had ordered the standard banquet package for everyone, to keep costs down. Pitchers of water were on the table, along with baskets of warm whole-grain rolls and pats of butter. Their waitress brought the salad course over: wilted spinach with gorgonzola dressing.

Lelia was bubbling over with excitement. "Oh, Uncle Wan! I never knew so many of those cool things about you. You never even mentioned that when you were at Georgeton, you listened to 'Days of Future Passed' on infinite loop while studying. I do that sometimes, too." 

Kathy chuckled and kissed her daughter's bun. "So do I, sweetheart."

Apparently, The Moody Blues were a Prentice family tradition. Hard to imagine a better band for that distinction.

Ian's chuckle blended with Kathy's. "And I've still been known to listen to the Blues all night, when grading an exam."

It was Quinn's turn to smile. "One of the reasons we have separate offices at home," he said dryly.

"Heh! I was always grateful I didn't have to share a bedroom with him growing up." Monty snorfled. "He would've driven me crazy with all that music when I was trying to study."

The main course came, and they were not disappointed. Trout stuffed with crabmeat, swimming in a Chardonnay reduction, paired with scallions, peas, and tortellini in vegetable broth on the side. They concentrated on their dinner for the next little while.

Jo said, "I'm glad they used the photos of Ian I printed out for Kit. Now I'm not the only one who can see how adorable Ian was as a teenager."

Quinn chimed in, "I'll second that."

"Oh, you two!" Ian said with fond exasperation, prompting Quinn to give a wink to his mother-in-law. Ian retaliated by poaching a tortellini from Quinn's plate, a classic move of his.

Everybody smiled when Ian ate the little bite of pasta, and their smiles only deepened at Quinn's indulgent grin in reaction.

"Please don't ever change, boys," Ginny said. "I can just see you doing this when you're in your 90s, and I'm all for it."

"Amen," said Keith, beaming at his son almost as indulgently as Quinn was doing right now.

Lelia's eyes were dancing. "Y'know, Han has started doing the same thing to me. I bet he would've swiped my tortellini, if he weren't at the next table." She looked over at Han, who somehow knew she was talking about him, and winked. He winked back, knowing she had a lot to tell him about tonight.

By this time, all of them were fresh out of tortellini -- to share, or otherwise. So it was a good thing that their waitress came over with dessert, which happened to be one of Quinn's favorites, banana layer cake. Everyone but Lelia ordered coffee, with John and Ian opting for cappuccinos, Kathy and Jo choosing lattes, and Monty and Quinn going for espressos.

The cake turned out to be just as luscious as it looked, and the coffee made it taste even better. Poaching from Quinn's plate with their family there was one thing; getting banana-cream icing on his lip was quite another. So Ian was careful to be a model of neatness and decorum, although he couldn't fool Quinn for a minute, judging by the sparkle in his blue, blue eyes.

After they'd finished eating dessert, Quinn asked, "May I?" and held out his hand to his laddie.

The table erupted in cheers, just like they had after the movie and champagne. Even after all these years, the private Quinn was usually not the first on the dance floor, with the exception of their wedding receptions. Ian grinned when he realized that their family was literally cheering them on.

The band was playing 'Happy Together' by The Turtles, and nothing could have been more appropriate for them.

Han came up to the table to ask Lelia to dance with him; it would be their first grown-up dance together. They had both taken dance lessons, along with their aikido classes, so they were prepared in theory; in practice, there was a bit of teenage awkwardness, but that just added to its charm. They did the box-step next to Ian and Quinn, content to learn from them, as they still did with their private aikido lessons from Masters Qui and Wan.

After dancing the night away, Ian and Quinn ambled out onto the balcony overlooking the nighttime campus. They saw the green safety lights of Taton Hall shining in the distance and felt completely at home in their little corner of the galaxy.

Quinn took Ian in his arms for a kiss that was fifteen years in the making, incomparably more delicious than anything they'd eaten at the banquet tonight. Ian could still teach Quinn a thing or two about sensuality.

The Mastery of Ian Prentice, indeed.


End file.
